ASSESS
Technology due diligence services for private equity firms and tech investors
Kickdrum’s investment-focused suite of technology assessments has mitigated risk and maximized value for more than $20B in private equity transactions.
With a specialization in technology due diligence, we help investors, operators, and management teams see past the pitch deck and into the code, architecture, security posture, and engineering culture that determine whether a deal actually delivers on its thesis.
Which technology diligence program is right for you?
Each program below is a discrete, fixed-scope engagement designed to answer specific investor questions. They can be deployed individually for a focused read or stacked into a comprehensive technology risk assessment for complex transactions.
Technology Diligence Assessment
Reduce investment risk and uncover executive level, value-driven tech opportunities within tight transaction timelines.
AI Opportunity Assessment
Find near term opportunities to catalyze enterprise value through AI-driven efficiency, personalization, and forecasting.
Open Source
Assessment
Uncover and address security and license complexity introduced through open source code, defending enterprise value.
Security Risk Assessment
Use cost-benefit analysis to determine key security threats, vulnerabilities, and opportunities for defending enterprise value.
IT Key Risks
Assessment
Analyze and evaluate your IT environment, uncovering any concerning exposures and an action plan to mitigate risks.
AI Feasibility Assessment
Investigate current AI/ML capabilities to ensure that AI’s potential is being harnessed appropriately.
Sell-Side Diligence Assessment
Maximize valuations by developing a strong engineering trajectory story that addresses buy-side scrutiny.
UX / UI Risks Assessment
Uses best practices to evaluate a company’s user experience and interface, assessing key risks to the product and the business.
Code Maturity Assessment
Identify and quantify risk and prescribe opportunities for defending and accelerating enterprise value.
Platform Integration
Assessment
Clear the path for a successful merging of platforms, helping you maximize the combined value of your new entity.
Looking for a different solution? Explore all of the technology consulting services that Kickdrum offers.
What our technology risk assessment covers
Across these programs, a thorough Kickdrum technology risk assessment typically examines:
Architecture and scalability — Will the platform support the growth assumptions in the model, or will re-platforming consume the value the deal is meant to create?
Code quality and technical debt — How much hidden cost lives in the repository, and how quickly is it compounding?
Cloud and infrastructure economics — Are unit costs trending in the right direction as the company scales?
Security and compliance — Are there findings that could derail the deal, trigger costly post-close remediation, or threaten customer contracts?
Engineering team and culture — Is the team that built it the team that can scale it, and what are the key-person risks?
Product and roadmap viability — Does the roadmap match the investment thesis, and is it deliverable with the team in place?
AI readiness — Where are the practical, near-term AI opportunities, and what would they cost to capture?
When to engage a PE technology diligence firm
Investors typically bring Kickdrum in at four key moments in a deal lifecycle:
Pre-LOI screening. A lightweight technical read to inform bid strategy and identify red flags worth raising in management meetings before money and time are committed
Confirmatory diligence post-LOI. A full technology due diligence engagement that produces an investment-grade report, quantifies risks and opportunities, and shapes the 100-day plan with precision.
Portfolio value creation. Unlike other technology diligence firms, Kickdrum creates value after the close through AI-first development, modernization of legacy systems, and cloud cost reduction strategies that turn portfolio companies into stronger compounders during the hold.
Exit preparation. Sell-side diligence that surfaces and addresses issues before buyers find them, protecting and often expanding valuation at exit.
Ready to get started with Kickdrum?
PE Technology Due Diligence: Common Questions
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We offer a range of solutions designed to meet your needs—whether you're just getting started or scaling something bigger. Everything is tailored to help you move forward with clarity and confidence.
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Technology due diligence timelines can vary based on transaction complexity, target size, and the depth of analysis requested. Pre-LOI diligence can be completed in a matter of days to inform bid strategy, while confirmatory post-LOI engagements can run several weeks to accommodate deeper architecture reviews, code analysis, security reviews, penetration testing, and management team interviews.
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A Kickdrum technology assessment delivers a report with prioritized findings, quantified risks and opportunities, and clear recommendations tied to the investment thesis. Engagements typically include executive readouts for the deal team, supporting detail for operating partners, active participation in underwriting calls, and inputs that shape both deal pricing and post-close value creation planning.
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Big Four practices offer scale, brand recognition, and broad accounting/advisory integration that some PE firms value for portfolio standardization. Kickdrum is a specialist alternative built specifically for software and tech-enabled services deals. With over 30 former CTO’s on staff, Kickdrum’s engagements are led by senior engineers and architects with more than 20 years of experience on average.
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The strongest technical due diligence consultants combine engineering depth with fluency in the deal context. They can evaluate architecture, code, and team with a lens to the thesis, risk, value creation potential, and 100-day priorities. Look for technology due diligence providers with operational build and modernization experience, not just assessment frameworks, so findings translate directly into action.
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Kickdrum’s Code Maturity assessment is often run together with a technology key risks assessment. Through a combination of automated scans and expert human analysis, the Code Maturity Assessment quantifies the health and risk of a codebase and prescribes opportunities to accelerate enterprise value. It also identifies open source dependencies and highlights any security or legal license risks to be addressed.
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Kickdrum’s technology due diligence produces the baseline findings that often drive the 100-day plan and the multi-year value creation roadmap for a portfolio company. Findings around modernization opportunities, AI use cases, cloud cost reduction, and engineering team gaps become the operating playbook to build a stronger, more profitable business over time.
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Kickdrum's technology due diligence is best suited for PE deals where engineering execution will determine whether the investment thesis plays out. That includes software-driven businesses, tech-enabled services businesses, technology carve-outs, SaaS and platform plays, AI-led companies, and any transaction where the post-close value creation roadmap depends on architecture, code, or engineering teams.
100% of Private Equity clients have used Kickdrum more than once.
